In many countries of the world, fabrics are washed by hand. The conventional process of washing fabrics by hand is very labour intensive for the washer, requiring the repeated application of soap, usually from bars, or low cost detergent powders followed by rubbing and pounding to remove stubborn stains. It is therefore desirable to make this process more effective and convenient to the user. The process would be aided greatly by the application of enzymes in order to break down proteins and/or oxidise food stains. However, enzymes are the most expensive ingredients of detergent formulations and the addition of enzymes to formulations for washing by hand would increase the cost of the product beyond the pocket of many users. Another problem associated with the conventional hand washing process is, that the dirt and dye removed in the process is often redeposited onto the washed fabrics, so that the overall cleaning result is sometimes disappointing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel enzymatic process for washing fabrics by hand, which overcomes the above mentioned draw-backs. Surprisingly, it has now been found that the above-mentioned draw-backs can be overcome by the article according to the invention, said article containing one or more types of harmless micro-organisms capable of excreting enzymes useful in said fabric cleaning process.